learn from one bird how to sing
by AndAwayWeGo
Summary: "There are three rows of chairs on steps in the back of the room and a large grand piano, with a little office off to the right. It's bigger than she expected, and much brighter and she thinks, I can do this." Faberry. AU.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing, I promise.**

**A/N: Sorry about the gap in writing in my other stories. I've been rather busy. I started this one over a year ago and just now finished it. **

**It's entirely AU, so you'll just have to see how.**

**Please be sure to tell me what you think.**

…

_learn from one bird how to sing_

..

.

Putting it in very simple terms, she's absolutely petrified as she walks through the front door and into the atrium of the school. It's perfectly okay to be nervous, she tells herself, because she's perfectly prepared for this. She knows all about what she'll be teaching, she's passionate about music and spreading her love of it into the hallways of this school through rhythms and harmonies and lyrics.

She is Rachel freaking Berry and she can do this. Absolutely she can.

Finding the front office is easy enough—it's immediately to her left—so she turns and heads into it, returning the smile that the blonde secretary behind the desk gives her.

"Howdy!" she chirps at Rachel, but then the phone is ringing, so she answers it. "William McKinley High School, this is Brittany." She listens for a second before saying, "Let me transfer you." She presses a few buttons and sets the receiver down before looking back up. "What's up?"

"Um…" Rachel swallows nervously. "I'm—"

"Morning, Brit," a cheerful voice cuts her off, and she turns to see a blonde woman stride into the office. She has to bite her lip and avert her eyes because she's probably the most beautiful person she's ever seen in person.

"Hey, Quinn!" Brittany returns, and looks back at Rachel. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

"Um…" Rachel clears her throat. "Yeah, I'm the new music teacher and I'm not really sure where the choir room is." Her sentence ends with a question mark, actually, but she'd like to pretend that it doesn't.

Brittany bobs her head. "Right. Rachel Berry." She smiles, but offers no directions.

The blonde woman—Quinn—is flipping through her mail and looks up at this. "I can show you where it is," she offers, throwing a grin at Rachel that makes her take an anxious step back.

"Um…Thanks."

She wonders if she'll ever get a sentence out that _doesn't _start with, "Um." Because, that'd be great.

She awkwardly follows Quinn down the hallway, past rows and rows of lockers, and Rachel's head spins a bit.

"Quinn Fabray," Quinn Fabray says, thrusting out a hand that Rachel shakes as they make their way down through the school. "I teach regular and AP English to the seniors back that-a-way." She nods to the side as they pass another hallway, even though Rachel has no idea where she means.

"Rachel Berry," she returns, though, Quinn knew that already. "Choir."

"Nice to meet you, Rachel Berry." Quinn grins again and they stop in front of a door. "Here you are." Rachel tentatively opens the door and peeks her head in, a little overwhelmed.

There are three rows of chairs on steps in the back of the room and a large grand piano, with a little office off to the right. It's bigger than she expected, and much brighter and she thinks, _I can do this_.

"Hey, listen." Rachel jumps, having forgotten that Quinn was still standing beside her. She turns and smiles, embarrassed all of the sudden for a handful of reasons that whir around her head. "You'll be okay. The kids aren't usually too bad, and I can't imagine that any kids interested in music will misbehave too often. They tend to be more responsible than the rest of the rabble." Rachel smiles at this. "Don't sweat it, okay?"

Tentatively, Rachel responds, "Okay," and Quinn starts walking backwards down the hall.

"Besides, the kids don't show up till next Tuesday."

And then she's turned around and disappearing around a corner.

.

Rachel's morning is mostly paperwork and jumping every time the bells ring—apparently they're testing them for when school starts.

She grabs her purse and, thankfully, finds her way to the front entrance when her lunch break rolls around.

It's when she's in the atrium that she spots Quinn, heading outside beside a—_beautiful, _Rachel thinks bitterly—brunette woman.

"Hey, Rachel. Are you heading out for lunch?" Quinn asks and Rachel swears that she feels her heart speed up painfully.

"Oh, um…yeah. I am."

"Would you wanna join us? We're heading over to Hunan Garden."

There's a beat of hesitation, but Rachel doesn't receive a death glare from the brunette woman, hinting that she'd rather the two of them be alone, so she nods. "Yeah, that would be really nice. Thank you."

Rachel follows them to the restaurant and stays quiet as they're seated because she's really not sure what to say.

Quinn's companion is Santana Lopez, the Spanish teacher and assistant coach to the school's cheerleader squad. As it turns out, Quinn is the head coach, which Rachel finds herself completely unsurprised by, though she's not really sure why.

Santana, apparently, is dating Brittany, the receptionist, which Rachel _is _surprised by. Not that Santana is gay, but because this is Lima, Ohio—a relatively conservative, and small-minded town—and she hardly thinks homosexual relationships are the norm. She can hardly imagine how hard it must have been for her fathers when they lived here, though they moved to New York just a few months after she'd been born.

Lunch goes quickly and conversation flows easily, and then they're back in the school and parting ways.

Santana waves and Quinn grins and Rachel watches them walk away until they turn a corner.

.

On her way out that afternoon, Santana yells out, "See you tomorrow, Berry!" from the office, where she's leaning against Brittany's desk, and Rachel waves at her.

Quinn is talking to another teacher by her car when she goes out to the parking lot, but she breaks her conversation to wave and say, "Bye, Rach."  
The nickname makes her stomach drop, but Rachel manages to return the sentiment and drive home just fine.

.

(years later Quinn will admit to having had a similar reaction when Rachel smiled before saying goodbye that day, and Rachel will laugh and say, "I knew it," when she really had no idea)

.

She gets into the swing of things after that and the nervousness doesn't return until the first day of school arrives. She nods in greeting to anyone she passes on the way to her classroom and she's pretty sure her heart is going to pound out of her chest when she turns on the choir room lights.

With ten minutes before the doors are unlocked for the students, Rachel slips into her office and sits down to try and gather herself.

She drops her head onto her desk and pushes back the nervous tears with her eyes closed. It's when she opens them that she spots the note that's been written on the back of a copied practice quiz on _The Grapes of Wrath. _

_Don't sweat it, Rachel. You'll be perfect. –Q_

She's a lot less nervous after that.

.

Quinn comes by her classroom after school lets out with her _Watership Down _tote over her shoulder. "How'd it go?"

Rachel looks up from the stack of music she's sorting and says, "It was…not as bad as I'd anticipated."

"Told you not to worry," Quinn says and her grin is bright again. "If it makes you feel any better, one of my English kids said she had you this morning and that you're very pretty and nice. She's excited that you're here."

Rachel blushes and she turns her head back down to look at the music in order to hide it. "Well, she's very kind."

"And very right," Quinn says softly.

Rachel looks up at her quizzically, looking for any sort of confirmation about what she'd just said, but she receives none.

"Can I walk you out to your car?" is all she gets, so she nods and says, "Of course," before grabbing her things and following the blond out of the building.

.

One of Rachel's students, Marley, brings up the idea of starting a glee club to perform and compete after choir class one day. Rachel is still looking for ways to involve herself, so she makes an announcement about it in each of her classes and sets up a time after school for them to meet.

A little over a dozen actually show up and Rachel is _floored _that so many are willing and eager to start something like that.

They set times to practice and they all walk her out to the parking lot and wave goodbye and Rachel is reminded why she wanted to teach.

.

Quinn invites Rachel to the football game in the teacher's lounge one day and says, "It'll be fun," in a way that makes Rachel's knees go weak.

She promises to be there, and it's worth the slight evening humidity to see Quinn excitedly watch the cheerleaders perform for the crowd.

A few of her students who joined the glee club spot her and talk with her amicably for a few minutes about how excited they are. Their eyes light up when they discuss some song ideas and their excitement is infectious because soon she's smiling too.

They wave goodbye after the opposing team makes a touchdown and it's suddenly too loud for her to take.

She's on her way out when someone on the field side of the fence stops her.

"Hey!" She turns and it's Quinn. "You came."

Rachel smiles. "Of course I did." She nods back towards the track where the cheerleaders are chanting and jumping around excitedly. "They're great, you know. The cheerleaders."

Quinn turns to look at them and smiles. "Yeah, well. The talent is all theirs." Rachel wants to say something about Quinn having to have talent too, but the words get all jumbled, so she stays quiet. "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired, you know?"

Quinn nods. She glances at the scoreboard and then says, "Well, it's almost half time. Can I buy you some nachos?"

Rachel is vegan, which Quinn is impressed by. She buys her an apple and Rachel hated football all through high school, but she thinks she could get used to this.

.

She ends up being asked to chaperone homecoming. She agrees, even though she'd much rather not.

It's not the waste of a night off, but the fact that she has to get dressed up for it that bothers her.

She wears a dress and shows up an hour early to sit at a table outside the gym selling tickets to students that forgot to buy them earlier.

Mr. Evans, the government teacher and basketball coach, is at the table with her, collecting money to put in a box. They make small talk about the students and Lima and he asks how she's dealing with things.

"Everyone has been very helpful and polite," she tells him, smiling at him gratefully so that he knows that he's included in that too.

When the dance starts, she leaves him there for any stragglers and goes to help Quinn at the refreshments table.

"You look nice," Quinn remarks as she approaches.

She's able to fight off the blush and she says, "You do too."

Quinn shrugs. "I always look nice."  
Rachel laughs, but doesn't agree—even though Quinn is right.

Mr. Evans—_Sam_—comes over after a little while to join them and, as nice as he is, Rachel hates him a little bit when his eyes linger on Quinn.

.  
Sectionals come up, her glee club's first real competition, and she puts up a sign on the billboard in the teachers' lounge for chaperones.

When she checks on it during lunch, only one name has been written and, although she recognizes the last name, she has yet to meet him.

"That's me," a deep voice says behind her and she turns to see the person in question sitting at a table and sipping coffee.

She smiles in greeting and says, "Well, pleased to make your acquaintance." She makes her way over to him and holds out her hand, which he shakes, before sitting down. "Ms. Berry," she says, on instinct before correcting herself. "Ms. Rachel Berry, that is."  
He laughs and says, "Finn Hudson. Gym teacher and football coach."

"Nice to meet you, Finn Hudson." He nods and drinks some more coffee. "You'd be willing to help chaperone the bus to sectionals, then?"

He nods. "Yeah, of course. I've always had a thing for music. Used to be in choir in high school, actually."  
She eyes him, because she was not expecting that. "Really?"  
"Yeah, I know I don't look it." He laughs and she does too. "But, I'd be more than happy to help you out."

Rachel talks with him for the rest of her free period, and he's nice and funny—a little thick at times, but she can get over that. She gives him the information about sectionals and then goes back to her classroom.

Mind abuzz, she forgets to check the chaperone list on her way out. If she had, she would have seen a familiar name written down, then fiercely scribbled out at the sight of Rachel sitting and laughing with Finn.

.

They win at sectionals, which is more than she was expecting. She'd politely turned down Finn's offer of a celebratory dinner that night, in lieu of a quiet night in her apartment. He's nice and he's friendly, but she simply is not interested.

Quinn is proud when she stops by her room in the morning to tell her the next Monday.

"I knew you had the makings of a great teacher in you, Berry," she says and Rachel looks down at her feet, embarrassed.

"Thanks," she says. Well, less _says _than _squeaks._

"Sorry I wasn't there to watch the win happen."

Rachel looks back up and frowns. "That's okay. Maybe you could come cheer us on at Regionals."

Briefly, a look of sadness passes over Quinn's face, but it's gone before Rachel can really register that it's there. "Yeah. Definitely," Quinn tells her. "I'll be there."

.

Rachel's birthday falls the day before break starts, and the day of the staff Christmas party. She'd resigned herself to not going—being Jewish after all—but she'd always celebrated both because of her dads and Brittany had practically cried when she'd mentioned she might not go.

Her room is already open when she gets to it, and she stops and looks around for any sign of the person in it. It's empty, though, and she enters carefully.

Nothing has been touched, taken, or moved. The only thing that's different is the strawberry cupcake sitting on her desk with a note.

_Happy birthday! Hope your day is as lovely as you. _

_-Quinn_

_P.S. Don't worry. It's vegan-friendly._

She has no idea how Quinn knew, but the cupcake is delicious and she can't stop smiling all day.

.

Santana corners her at the party that evening when she goes to get fruit punch.

"Hey," she greets, sidling up next to her. "I need to talk to you."  
Rachel frowns. "Okay?"

Santana glances over her shoulder and then grabs Rachel's arm and drags her out of gym. "Not here," she says and they don't stop until they're in the first floor girls' restroom.

"May I ask why you've just dragged me from the party?" Rachel asks. She's mostly kidding, but Santana looks serious. "Is everything okay?"

Santana sighs. "Okay, I'm gonna get right to the point," she starts. "Look, Berry, Quinn likes you. I don't know how much, but I've known her since college and I've only ever seen her get this way once before."

Rachel doesn't really hear any of the last part because her mind went numb after, 'Quinn likes you.'

"She was raised all Christian, you know? I'm actually surprised she hasn't had a complete mental breakdown. She may not look or act it, but she's fragile, okay? So I need your word that you're not gonna hurt her."

There's a moments hesitation from Rachel when she realizes that Santana is expecting her to say something.

"Um…are you…are you absolutely certain?" she asks.

"About me needing your word?" There's a pause. "Oh, about Quinn." Rachel nods silently. "All I know is that I've never seen her take a liking to anyone like this. She doesn't just make pastries for every girl she meets." Rachel's stomach is in her throat and then Santana says, "So, do I have your word?"  
Rachel isn't really sure what else she's supposed to say other than, "Y-yes…you do."

.

Rachel's fathers fly her home for Christmas.

They ask about her job and how she likes it and she tells them about the glee club.

They're excited and ask far too many questions before they ask if she's met anyone special in Lima.

She laughs because she's not even sure what the answer is.

.

The first day back after break is just boring meetings and Rachel is just lucky she makes it through the day without pulling her hair out.

She sits with Brittany—who is supposed to be taking notes, but is actually just doodling unicorns—and does everything within her power not to stare at Quinn.

She fails miserably.

.

Auditions are held for the spring musical that January, and Mercedes, the theater teacher, asks her to help teach the vocals. She agrees happily and finds that, although they occasionally butt heads, she works rather well with the other woman. Tina, one of the guidance counselors, agrees to choreograph with her husband, Mike, who teaches Biology. They're both exceedingly nice and Rachel takes a liking to both of them immediately.

She meets up with them for lunch one day to discuss costuming. Since their lunches line up, Quinn stops by, like she usually does, to see how her day is going.

When she leaves, Mercedes gives Rachel an inquisitive look.

"What?" she asks.

Mercedes shakes her head and takes a bite of her food. "Nothing. You'd just think you two would be more discreet, that's all."

Tina gently hits Mercedes's arm. "Shush. I think it's cute."

Mike nods and says, "Yeah, Quinn seems to like her and she doesn't ever really take a liking to _anyone_."

Rachel looks between the three of them, but says nothing for the rest of their lunch period.

.

The conversation with Mercedes, Tina, and Mike is all she thinks about the rest of the day. She attempts to get some music sorting done and even tries to finish some choreography for Regionals during her free period, but it's really no use.

She's more than happy to get out of there when the final bell rings, and she wastes no time gathering her things and heading outside.

Quinn is on bus duty by the staff parking lot, though, and stops her.

"I was just wondering if you were free tonight," she says, looking as nervous as Rachel's ever seen her.

It's unnerving, mostly because Quinn is typically so calm and collected.

She forgets to answer in the time allotted, so Quinn keeps going.

"I was going to see if you wanted to hang out. Watch a movie or something and order food," she offers. "Could be fun."

_(you'd just think you two would be more discreet)_

A few students rush past them on their way to their bus. She hears one of them yell an expletive, but she makes no move to scold him.

"I, um…sort of have musical practice tonight, actually," she says. It's not a lie that there's practice—there is, they're just blocking on stage and she isn't needed if they're not singing.

Quinn's face falls and she says, "Oh, okay." A fake smile is forced onto her face. "Rain check?"

She looks so hopeful that Rachel agrees, although she's not sure if she'll hold herself to it.

Even if she wants to.

.

She knows she's made a mistake when Santana shows up at her doorstep that night.

"I know," she says quietly before Santana can say anything.

"What happened?"

Rachel sighs and runs her hand over her face. "I don't know."

But she does know.

She knows that she's absolutely terrified. She's scared that her students will find out and treat her differently. She's scared that parents will get upset and force her from her job. The list goes on.

Santana nods like she gets it. She must.

She leaves and Rachel can't sleep that night.

.

The first thing she does on her lunch break the next day is make her way to the English hallway.

Quinn's room is empty, so she waits, looking around the walls at all the posters.

She has one of Hemingway's house and Rachel smiles at the four bookshelves piled with books.

"Rachel?"

She turns and Quinn is standing by the recycling bin by the door looking confused. "What are you doing here?"

Rachel walks over to her, slowly—making sure to keep her distance. She fingers a copy of _The Awakening _on the bookshelf beside her and sighs. "I just wanted to apologize."

Quinn frowns. "For what exactly?"

"Yesterday," is quickly followed by, "I don't know."

Quinn walks around her and sets a Styrofoam tray from the cafeteria down on her desk. "Its okay, Rachel." She reaches out and tucks a strand of hair behind Rachel's ear, letting her fingers linger on her cheek before drawing back. "Really."

Rachel smiles through her blush and meets Quinn's eyes for the first time since entering. "Okay."

.

Regionals arrive and Quinn chaperones instead of Finn this time.

The ride is long and silent—full of tension and nerves. Rachel wants to give them a pep talk, but she doesn't even know where to begin.

So she just says, "You've earned this, guys," and watches them head to the green room to get ready.

They're good, but they're not the best. She watches carefully so that she can dissect exactly what they're doing wrong and fix it for next year.

She knows they won't win, but she can't help but hope.

Quinn grabs her hand right before the winner is announced and she doesn't let go, even when they've come in second.

.

She gives the pep talk she'd neglected earlier on the bus once they leave.

She tells them the truth—that they were great, but that, next year, they'll work even harder so that they can be even better.

None of them, surprisingly, seem particularly dejected, but they do seem eager for next year.

.

Kurt, Rachel's best friend from high school, flies out from New York to see the musical on opening night. She can't sit with him because she's needed backstage to help with any last minute emergencies, but she finds him after the show.

He hugs her and squeals and says that the whole cast had "the Rachel Berry touch."

While they're talking, Rachel feels a tap on her shoulder and then Quinn is behind her holding up a bouquet of gardenias.

"These are for you," she tells her, handing her the flowers.

Rachel blushes and fights the urge to look at Kurt. "I wasn't in the show."  
Quinn laughs. "Yeah, true," she says. "But I have a feeling that there would have been a lot less 'music' in 'musical' if you hadn't helped."

Rachel wants to hug her, but fights the urge, waving when Quinn goes to leave instead.

She puts the flowers in water when she gets back to her apartment and spends the rest of the weekend dodging Kurt's questions.

.

The rest of the year passes in a blur of finals and graduation.

On the last day of school—for the teachers, not the students—she packs up her things in a few boxes she'd been sure to bring and turns off the choir room light for the last time that school year.

Quinn's car is still in the parking lot when she puts the boxes in her car, so she goes back inside and heads for her classroom.

The blond is packing away her personal books in a box and stacking a few author quote posters on top when Rachel enters.

"Hey," Quinn greets and Rachel smiles, walking over to lean against the desk closest to the other woman's bookshelves.

"You have a lot of books, do you know that?" Rachel asks, smiling warmly.

Quinn laughs. "Oh, my god. You're right," she jokes. "I had no idea."

Rachel sticks out her tongue and Quinn asks her to pull down the poster of Hemingway's house that's on the billboard at the front of the classroom.

She's short, though—always has been— and she has to stand on her tiptoes to pull out the last two pushpins.

The poster starts to slide down the wall and Quinn rushes over.

"Here, I got it," she says and stops its descent.

Having been in a hurry to help, she hadn't exactly watched where she was going. Consequentially, she hadn't been mindful of personal space and, when Rachel turns around, she finds them face-to-face.

"Oh," Quinn whispers. "Sorry."

But she makes no move to back up.

Rachel's eyes drop from hazel eyes to soft, pink lips and her mouth opens a little, mindlessly.

The whole year comes rushing into her chest so quickly that it's overwhelming and she has no idea why she was so scared.

Before she can talk herself out of it, she's saying, "Fuck it," and tugging Quinn's mouth to hers by the back of the other woman's neck.

Quinn is shocked at first, but—once what's happening sinks in—the poster she'd run to save falls to the floor after a moment and then she's kissing Rachel back. Her fingers press into the shorter woman's waist in an effort to tug her up, closer, and Rachel lets out a breathy whine that rings in their ears.

They part for air and everything around them seems to be a whole new color, and Rachel feels it's like she's seeing everything for the first time.

She smiles and Quinn bites her lip because everything has changed, but really they've been heading here since day one.

"Took you long enough," Quinn says, and it's not particularly funny, but neither of them can stop laughing.

.

They make good on the plans Rachel had turned down that night.

Of course, the movie they pick to watch is buried beneath the sound that Quinn makes when Rachel's mouth finds her neck.

Santana doesn't say anything, but there's a certain level of understanding between them when they double date that summer.

They go laser tagging and Rachel is absolutely terrible, but Quinn valiantly jumps in front of her several times to 'save her', so she doesn't really mind.

.

(the next year will be different than her first year—more planned lunches dissolving into fervent kisses in Rachel's office, sneaking off to dance during homecoming, and bus rides with the glee club spent holding hands under their coats—but it's them, and not the school that will have changed)  
.

They'll get engaged two years later.

Quinn will get down on one knee in their hotel room after they win nationals in New York City. Rachel will cry, not because she's surprised, but because _finally._

They won't tell their students, but everyone will know anyway.

The best part will be that Rachel won't care that they do.

..

_fin_

…

e. e. cummings – _You shall above all things be glad and young_


End file.
